Arc lamp



ARC LAMP Filed Sept. 25. 1930 Patented Sept. 11, 1934 PATENT @FHQE ARCLAMP

Otto A. Kerner, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Glycere M. Kerner, LosAngeles, Calif.

Application September 26, 1930, Serial No. 484,603

9 Claims.

This invention relates to an arc lamp having a special constructionadapting it for burning short carbons or carbon pencils of unusuallyshort length. In this connection it should be understood that anordinary arc lamp has an automatic clutch which connects with the uppercarbon to pull the same away from the lower carbon to form the electricarc. On account of the position of this clutch there is considerableWaste due to the fact that this type of lamp cannot completely consumethe carbons, in fact the stubs from such lamps are usually about fortyper cent of the length of the complete carbon when the operation of thelamp commences with it; in other words, there is a loss of about fortypercent of the lengths of carbons burned with such lamps.

The general object of this invention is to produce an arc lamp of simpleconstruction which can operate with the waste carbon stubs which havealready been used in regular arc lamps, and one of the objects of theinvention is to provide a simple construction for holding the carbonstubs and maintaining the electric arc, and having a clutch mechanismlocated and operating in such a way that it operates independently ofthe length of the carbons held in the lamp.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carrying mechanism forthe carbons with means for limiting the consumption of the carbons,thereby preventing any possibility of the carbons burning off andincidentally burning the ends of the arms that carry the carbons.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts tobe described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efliscient arc lamp. 7

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification, while the broad'scope of the invention is pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the casing of a lamp embodying myinvention, certain parts being broken away. Figure 2 is a plan upon anenlarged scale and illustrating one of the carbon clamps and showing a,short portion of the supporting arm for the carbon broken away.

Figure 3 is a side elevation with certain parts broken away andillustrating a modified construction of the means for causing the armssupporting the carbon stubs to move in unison.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents a casing of boxform, provided on its forward side with two slots 2, one above theother, through which project the arms 3 and 4 that carry the carbonstubs 5. These carbon stubs may be attached to the free projecting endsof the arms in any suitable manner, for example, by means of clamps 6such as illustrated (see Figure 2). These arms 3 and are supported on asuitable frame 7 within the casing l and are connected in such a, waythat they will move toward or away from each other in unison.

In the present instance, the arms 3 and 4 are mounted on pivotalsupports 8 opposite to each other so as to swing in a vertical plane.Furthermore, I connect the arms in such a way that they move in unisontoward or from each other. In addition to this, I provide clutchmechanism automatically controlled, which is located within the casingand which operates independently of the lengths of the carbon stubs. Inorder to accomplish this I provide the arms 3 and 4 with short arms orextensions 9 that project toward each other, and these extensions carrylinks 10 respectively that are connected by the pivot pin or screw 11,said screw also serving to connect the links to the upper end of aradius rod 12 which is pivotally attached at 13 near the bottom of thecasing.

In order to pull the arms 3 and 4. apart to form the electric arcindicated at 14, I provide a stem 15 that it connected with one of thearms. This stem is preferably suspended from the upper arm 3 at 16a bymeans of a link 16. The lower end of the stem 15 is guided to slidethrough a guide opening 17in a fixed extension 18 of the frame '7. Thisstem 15 is a clutch stem and operates with a clutch 19 of a common type,said clutch being in the form of a plate having a loose connection 20,at one end, to the frame extension 18, and having an opening or clutchthroat 21 that bites into the side of the stem 15 when the clutch plateis pulled upwardly at its free end by means of a short link 22.

This short link 22 is pivotally connected to a short arm 23 pivotallymounted on a pivot bolt 24. This same pivot bolt operates to support aclutch lever 25 that is located between the two arms 3 and 4 and thislever is provided with a laterally projecting dog 26 that engages anadjusting set screw 27 mounted in the short arm 23 and projecting downbeyond the same. The end of the clutch lever 25 that is disposed towardthe carbons 5 is connected to a dash-pot 28 to dampen the movements ofthe clutch lever when it is actuated by a solenoid 29 located at theback of the case. This solenoid includes a coil 30 that is in circuitwith the carbons 5 through the medium of insulated conductors 31 and ithas a core 32 that is connected with the rear end of the clutch lever25. This connection preferably is effected by means of a coil spring 33which may be connected to the lever at any one of a plurality ofopenings 34 arranged in a row. By connecting the spring at differentopenings evidently the leverage of the core 32 can be adjusted andregulated to suit special requirements in adjusting the lamp.

In order to enable the efiect of the dash-pot 28 to be regulated, itsupper endis formed with an extension 35 that can be attached-to theadjacent end of the clutch lever 25 in any one of a plurality ofopenings 36. The lower end of the dashpot is formed by the piston rod 37of the 'dashpot piston 38 and the lower end of this rod is pivotallyattached at 39 on a fixed bracket 40 mounted in the casing.

Suitable means is provided for limiting the approaching movement of thearms 3 and 4 toward each other. This is necessary to prevent the carbonsfrom becoming completely consumed in case the lamp is not watched. Ifthis occurred, the arc might burn away the clamps 6. In order toaccomplish this I form the stem 15 in the form of a tube and I provide along stem 41 that is pivotally attached at 42 in the upper part of thecasing and hangs down through the tubular stem 15; The lower end of thisinner stem 41 is threaded and receives a stop-nut 43. It will be evidentthat as the arms 3 and 4 approach each other, eventually the lower endof the tubular stem 15 would strike the upper face of this nut 43 andprevent further approach of the arms toward each other.

In the operation of the lamp the solenoid 00- operates with the are at14 in the manner which is usual in electric arc lamps, that is to say,when the tips of the carbons 5 come together, the resistance becomes soreduced that the coil 30 will pull the core 32 inwardly and therebyoperate the lever 25. This will pull up the clutch plate 19 and, throughthe medium of the stem 15, effect a separation of the carbons, therebyforming the electric are at 14.

' By reason of the equal angular movement of the arms 3 and 4 as theyapproach each other during the consumption of the carbons, it will beevident that they will always maintain the tips of the carbons nearenough together to maintain an effective arc.

If desired, the outer side of the casing 1 of the lamp may be providedwith a reflector indicated by the dotted lines 44.

In the operation of the lamp, carbon stubs of about four inches inlength can be burned down to about one inch in length. In this way thelamp will operate to eliminate about three-fourths of the waste nowoccurring if carbon stubs are thrown away after being burned in ordinaryelectric arc lamps. I

In Figure 3, I illustrate a modified construction for connecting twoarms 45 to correspond with the arms 3 and 4 for carrying the carbonstubs. Instead of connecting these arms as indicated in Figure 1, I mayprovide one of the arms, for example, the upper arm, with a short arm 46beyond the supporting pin 4'7 and the end of this short arm is connectedby a link 48 with the arm 45 by a pinor a bolt 49 located as indicated.With this link 48 crossing the line joining the pivot points of thearms, it will be evident that the arms 45 can be made to approach orrecedefrom each other in unison.

What I claim is:

1. In an arc-lamp for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of aframe, a pair of oppositely disposed pivoted arms having means forcarrying the carbon stubs, means for connecting the arms to enable thesame to swing in unison on their pivot supports, a stem connected withone of the arms and extending in a transverse direction with respect tothe arms for moving the same apart to form the electric arc, a singleclutch lever pivotafly supported on the frame, a single'clutch memberpivotally attached to the 'clutchlever and actuated thereby andcooperating with the said stem to move the levers apart in forming theelectric are, a solenoid having a core and a coil connected in circuitwith the carbon stubs, and a core connected with the clutch lever foractuating the said arms, said clutch enabling the arms to approach eachother suc cessively whiie the core maintains a substantially constantrelation to the coil, and operating to separate the arms after eachapproach to keep the arc between the carbons.

2. In an arc-lamp for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of aframe, a pair of oppositely disposed arms pivotally supported on theframe to swing in a substantially vertical plane, means connecting thearms to enable the same to swing in unison toward or from each other, astem pivotally suspended from the upper arm, and unattached to the lowerarm, a single clutch member cooperating with the stem to raise the stemand separate the arms to form the electric arc, a single clutch leverpivotally mounted between the said arms and pivotally attached to theclutch member for actuating the same, and a solenoid having a coreconnected with the clutch leverand a coil in circuit with the carbonstubs, said clutch enabling the arms to approach each other successivelywhile the core maintains a substantially constant relation to the coil,and operating to separate the arms after each approach to keep the arcbetween the carbons.

3. An arc-lamp constructed as described in claim 2, in which relativelyfixed guiding means is provided for guiding the lower end of the stem.

4. An arc-lamp constructed as described in claim 2, in which the stem isof tubular form and an inner stem is provided supported at its upper endon the frame and passing down through the tubular stem, said inner stemprovided with means at its lower end for limiting the downward movementof the tubular stem to prevent the carbons from being completelyconsumed.

5. In an arc-larnp for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of aframe, a pair of 0ppositely disposed arms pivotally supported on theframe to swing in a substantially vertical plane, means connectingthearmsto enable the same to swing toward or from each other in unison,means on the ends of the arms for carrying the carbon stubs, a stemsuspended from the upper arm, a clutch having an opening to cooperatewith the stem to pull the same upwardly, means for connecting saidclutch at one side of the stem with the said frame, a clutch leverpivotally mounted on the frame between the firstnamed levers, means foractuating the clutch by the clutch lever, a solenoid having a coreconnected wtih the clutch lever and having a coil in circuit with thecarbon stubs, and means for limitmg the inward swinging movement of thearms to prevent complete consumption of the carbons and the burning ofthe ends of the first-named arms by the arc.

6. In an arc-lamp for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of aframe, a pair of arms extending in a general horizontal directionpivotally mounted on said frame to swing in a substantially verticalplane, means on the free ends of said arms for carrying the carbonstubs, said arms having extensions near their pivotal supportsprojecting toward each other, means connecting the said extensions toenable the arms to move in unison toward or from each other, a clutchincluding a clutch plate and a stem pivotally connected with one of saidarms, and unattached to the other arm, means for guiding the clutch stemto move the arms apart to form the electric arc, a solenoid having acoil in circuit with the carbon stubs and having means for actuating theclutch plate.

'7. In an arc-plate for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of aframe, a pair of arms pivotally mounted on said frame to swing in asubstantially vertical plane, means on the free ends of said arms forcarrying the carbon stubs, said arms having extensions near theirpivotal supports projecting toward each other, a pair of links attachedrespectively to said extensions, a radius arm having a pivotal supporton the frame and having a pin connecting the same with both of saidlinks and cooperating with the same to enable the arms to move in unisontoward or from each other, a clutch including a clutch plate and a stempivotally connected with one of said arms, means for guiding the clutchstem to move the arms apart to form the electric arc, and a solenoidhaving a coil in circuit with the carbon stubs and having means foractuating the clutch plate.

8. In an arc-lamp for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of acasing, a frame within the casing, a pair of arms pivotally supported onthe frame within the casing to swing in a substantially vertical planeand having their free ends extending to the exterior of the casing,means on the free ends of the arms for carrying the carbon stubs, aclutch-stem connected with one of said arms for moving the same, meansconnecting the arms to enable the same to swing toward or from eachother in unison, a clutch to cooperate with the clutch-stem, aclutch-lever pivotally mounted on the frame, a clutch actuator having ashort arm pivotally mounted on the pivotal support of the clutch leverand connected with the clutch for actuating the same, said clutch-leverhaving means for lifting the clutch actuating arm to raise the clutchand pull up the stem, and a solenoid having a coil connected in circuitwith the carbon stubs and having a core connected with the clutch-lever.

9. In an arc-lamp for burning short carbon stubs, the combination of aframe, a pair of oppositely disposed arms for carrying the carbon stubsand having pivotal supports on the frame, a link pivotally attached toeach arm and connecting said arms, said link being mounted in a positionto cross the line connecting the said pivotal supports for the arms, astern connected with the arms for moving the same to separate thecarbons to form the electric arc, a clutch cooperating with the saidstem, a solenoid having a core and a coil in circuit with the carbonsfor actuating the clutch to form the said arc, said clutch cooperatingwith said arms to enable the arms to approach each other successivelywhile the core maintains a substantially constant relation to the coil.

OTTO A. KERNER.

